Back in USA!

Here in JFK. Flight was delayed 2 hours from Barcelona but Admirals Club there was quite comfortable and had internet access. Trip was fabulous despite some wet days. We loved the smaller ship and friendly staff. We met some great new friends from the Cruise Critic Message Board group. We were all totally in awe of the 85 and 87 year old couple from Florida travelling on their own and never missed a beat. So Jim and I hope we have another 25 years of cruising!

Final Day in Mallorca

Today was our final day :(. The weather was perfect and the island of Majorca was even more beautiful than Menorca. It is larger and much more cosmopolitan. The first site that you see in the harbor of the city of Palma is the majestic Cathedral of Majorca. It is hard to believe that it was started in the 11th century and took 4 centuries to complete. It was Gaudi that finally finished the interior design. The cathedral has the largest Rose window in the world. After the cathedral, we took the Hop On Hop Off bus to see the rest of the city. We ended with our last visit to a sidewalk café. We still had time to enjoy the pool before finishing packing and dinner. Our bags are now packed and outside the room and we will be off the ship and on the way to the airport at 7:30AM on Sunday morning (it will be still Saturday for most of you!) We have an 11AM flight out of Barcelona to JFK and then a 3 hour layover and on to Dallas. It was a great trip and we met a lot of fantastic people. The staff on the Azamura Journey were great.

Mahon Menorca

Today we arrived in Mahon, Menorca. It was sunny and in the low 80's. Menorca is one of the five Balearic Islands off the eastern coast of Spain in the western Mediterranean. It is a small island – 30 miles by 14 miles wide but boasts one of the best natural harbors in the Mediterranean. Because our ship is one of the smaller cruise ships we were able to dock right across from the steps that lead up to the capital city of Mahon. The English controlled the island for most of the 1800’s and there is still a lot of British influence in the architecture of this beautiful island. It was pretty easy to walk around the town. We visited the local fish market and a couple of churches. We were planning on taking a bus to one of the many beaches however we found out that some of the bus routes did not have very frequent schedules and even though Menorca is beautiful, we did not want to risk missing the ship. We took a taxi to Punta Prima, one of the closer beaches. With the bad weather we had earlier in the trip, we had not had to opportunity to go to a beach. Menorca is a popular vacation spot for many visitors from UK and Germany and most of the people at the beach we went to appeared to be renting some of the summer houses nearby. Tomorrow we will be in Mallorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands and more sunshine is predicted.

Dinner with Captain

Our dinner was with Captain Emmanouel Aposkitis, Staff Captain. He is actually second in command but sounds like he is responsible for just about everything. Pictured with the Captain is his "new" American wife from Cinncinati. Apparently they met on a cruise 4 1/2 years ago. We are in Mahon, Menorca this morning and it is sunny so we are headed to a beach. Hard to believe we have one more full day :(

Sunny Day at Sea

After a rough night of rocky seas, we were happy to see sunshine for our one and only sea day. Azamura had multiple events scheduled every hour. We enjoyed sleeping late and the first thing that we went to was a Mushroom Risotto cooking demonstration by the Executive Chef, Lisa Jones. She is a great chef from Chicago and has put together some fabulous menus. Right after that was a coffee for Cruise Critic Members with Senior Management of the ship. Cruise Critic is a website with lots of different message boards where cruisers share information about their cruising experience. Azamura has realized what a powerful site this is and really values the feedback from the members. Cruise Critic is also how we met some of the nice people who we shared tours with and had several dinners with. We enjoyed the sunshine for the rest of the day and are now getting ready for dinner with the captain. Tomorrow is Mahon, Menorca and hopefully will be a beach day.

Tomorrow is a Sea Day

After 10 straight days of ports and some tours leaving as early as 7:45, we are looking forward to a sea day tomorrow and are hoping for sunshine. Jim just wants to continue the nap that he had today on the way home from the tour. Tonight we are having dinner with about 8 other couples that we have met. For tomorrow night, we have received an invitation for dinner with the Captain.

Shopping in the Suk

The next stop in Tunis was to the Suk which was basically a bunch of shops with cheap souvenirs. It was kind of a creepy place and again we were delayed waiting for a straggler in the group. Jim did get to model a fez and you need to guess what color outfit Janet bought.

More Rain and Ruins in Tunis

We were supposed to arrive in Tunis, Tunisia at noon today but were delayed by RAIN again. We opted to take a ship’s tour in Tunis for safety reasons and there were even more delays getting off the ship because immigration had to come on board, so we now have our passports stamped with Tunisia. The first part of the tour was a visit to Carthage and it was kind of a disappointment as there were very few remnants of the original buildings (the pouring rain did not help either). Even more frustrating was having to wait for one lost member of the group. After Carthage we drove through the main city and passed by several mosques and the guide explained the different types of mosques.

More cathedrals in Malta!

Today we were in Malta and we docked in Valletta, the capital city built in 1565. We booked a tour with our new friends the Gratteaus and the Leemans. Our guide was very knowledgeable and had lots of information on the Knights of Malta and the history of this island that often had to defend itself against pirates. We toured the magnificent cathedral of St. John, however the cathedral in the picture today was in the fishing village of Marsaxlokk in the south of the island where we also had lunch. After lunch we visited the ancient temple site of Hagar Qim circa 3300BC (other picture today). Final stop was Mdina, the original capital of Malta built by Arabs in the 9th century. Malta was a very interesting island. We are now heading to Tunis, Tunisia.

Cooking in Sicily

Today we were in Taormina Sicily. Jim, Kathy and John decided to stay on the ship rather than take the 30 minutes shuttle ride to Taormina and the day looked like it was going to be cloudy and decided not to go to Mt. Etna. My tour was a small group accompanied by the ship’s Executive Chef to the home of Eleonora Consoli in the small village of Viagrande. It was clear enough on the way to get a great view of Mt. Etna. Eleonora is an expert Sicilian cook and gave us a private lesson in her home on some Sicilian specialties. First we shopped along with her assistants in the local market for some of the ingredients (also bought some pasta to take home). We made about 6 different dishes – some demonstration and some hands-on. We then got to enjoy the dishes in her beautiful garden along with some local wines. I loved it! Only problem was a storm came through by the time we got back to the ship and this was a port where we used tenders to get to the ship. It was quite a rocky trip from shore to the ship. Tomorrow is Malta and we are hoping the rain does not follow us.

Sunday in Sorrento

Sunday was our second day in Sorrento and we were planning on taking the hydrofoil to Capri. However, since it was the week-end we heard that Capri was quite crowded and decided to spend the morning by the pool and take some time off after 6 straight days of touring. We did go into town in the afternoon and had lunch at a fabulous Italian restaurant Donna Sophia. It was on the outskirts of town and had the best pasta and local wine! The ship left at 6 and sailed around Capri. Today is Sicily and Janet is taking a cooking tour, not sure what Jim, John and Kathy are going to do yet. Jim is still trying to decide if he will purchase a hat!

Almalfi Coast

Our ship arrived in the picturesque port of Sorrento early this morning. Because Azamura Journey is a smaller ship (700 passengers) it can come into some of the smaller ports. We visited the Amalfi Coast two years ago so we booked a private tour with Salvatore Lucciabella of Drive Amalfi so we could see some new sites as well as return to some of the places we liked before. We visited villages of Positano, Praiano, Conca dei Marini and Ravello and also had some great views of Mount Vesuvious. To get to some of these villages, it was again necessary to drive on winding mountain roads. Our driver this time was a very animated Italian, who also liked to use his hands (sometimes both) and make eye contact when talking (and driving). Some of the turns were so close that John finally asked the driver to keep both hands on the wheel. We had lunch in a small family restaurant just outside of Ravello and had fabulous pasta and local wine and finished off with some lemincello. It was a spectacular day with some great views. It was difficult to decide what pictures to include today. Tonight our ship will stay in Sorrento. We originally had plans of taking a hydrofoil over to the Isle of Capri, however, with several 8AM tours in a row, we may just take it easy tomorrow and walk around the town.

Two Days in Rome

Thursday, Azamura Journey arrived in Civitavecchia; a port city about 75 miles north of Rome and the sun was shining! Since our ship was in Civitavecchia overnight we decided that we would spend Thursday night in Rome and not waste time travelling back and forth each day. We contracted with Fabrizio, a very entertaining driver who owns a tour company Allaround Italy. We spent the Thursday touring some historic villages on the way to Rome. Tarquinia and Cerveteri were both very picturesque and contained Etruscan ruins. We had a fabulous lunch at Trattoria Sora Lella in Ceri, a small village with a great view. Our final stop was some wine tasting at Casale Cento Corvi and sampled (and purchased) some great local wines. We arrived at Albergo del Senato in Rome around 5 and had some time to relax and enjoyed some drinks on the roof top terrace before dinner. The hotel is adjacent to the Pantheon and has some great views of room, especially at sunset. Dinner was at Piccola Cuccagna, a great restaurant recommended by the Italian guy that cuts my hair.
Today had a very early start as we had to meet the tour guide at 8AM at the Vatican for a tour of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. We spent the rest of the day walking around Rome (trying to work off the pounds from the great food we have been enjoying.) We back on the ship now ready to sail for Sorrento. We will also be there overnight and will tour the Almalfi Coast and Capri. Hope everyone has a good week-end

Pictures - four of us in Tarquinia, Vatican, Janet at Spanish Steps

Rain Rain Go Away!

Tuesday night we celebrated another cruiser’s birthday along with 14 others at the Prime C Restaurant. This morning we woke up to grey skies and steady rain but since our plans included two of the bigger museums in Florence – Accademia and Uffizi, it did not interrupt our plans two much. Tomorrow, we have a tour guide picking us up in Civitavecchia and we will make stops in several small towns and a winery on our way to Rome. We are spending the night in Rome and will come back to the ship on Friday. Forecast looks questionable for Rome.

White-Knuckle Ride on Mountain Roads of Provence!

This morning our ship pulled into the port of Monte Carlo surrounded by yachts of Saudi Arabian sheiks. Since this was the second time we had been to this port, we decided to take a private tour with two other couples to the mountain-top villages of Peillon, Tourrettes sur Loup, St.-Paul de Vence and Eze. Most of these villages date back to the 15th century and were built for fortification. It was fascinating to walk through the narrow winding streets and vaulted alleyways. All of the villages do have some inhabitants and Tourrettes sur Loup even has a small hotel that was supposedly a favorite place for Frank Sinatra. The second picture is a view of Peillon. Since these villages are all at the top of small mountains, we had to climb steep roads with many hairpin turns. Our driver was very animated and frequently talked with his hands (both of them) and would also look at the passengers in the back while talking. You can see in the first picture that Kathy Gratteau and I were the shortest in this very tall group so we were permanently assigned the front seat in the van and there was some narrow misses of oncoming cars on the narrow winding roads (which explains the title of this post).
Unfortunately the rain increased as the day progressed and we decided to skip the Casino visit when we finally got to Monte Carlo. Tomorrow, we head to Livorno where we will have a 1 ½ hour car ride into Florence. Hoping for the return of sunshine when we head to Italy. Last picture is our ship docked in the port of Monaco.

Thumbs Up to Azamura Cruises

Boarding was a breeze on Azamura Journey with only 700 passengers (compared to previous experiences with 2500 to 3000 passengers.) Our first impressions of the ship were that we loved it with the décor of dark woods and personal service from the staff. We had a great sail away party with about 35 other cruisers from the Cruise Critic message board. Journey has two specialty restaurants that you can dine at for a minimal surcharge of $5 per person and Sunday night we had a great dinner at Prime C with John, Kathy on one of the new cruisers that we met (first picture – John’s new friend).
Monday we arrived in St. Tropez at around 11 and walked around the town a bit and rubbed elbows with the very bronzed (and rich natives), looked at some of the yachts (think we saw John and Jim on one of them – second picture). The beaches near town were not that great and did not feel like spending 30 Euros to go out to the supposed nicer beaches. We spent the rest of the day at the ship’s pool and had another great dinner at Aqualina (the second specialty restaurant on board - thanks Cookie for the wine!). Despite the fact that we think we are about 10 years below the average age of passengers, we love the small ship experience so far and have met some very nice passengers from the Cruise Critic Message Board who are actually younger than us. Tomorrow we are touring some of the smaller villages between Nice and Monte Carlo with two other couples and will probably end up at the casino in Monte Carlo.

Beautiful Barcelona

Arrived in Barcelona a little later than planned and ran into the Lussens at the Barcelona airport and to no surprise we found John Lussen on the Lost Luggage line. John and Kathy had a tight connection in Zurich and only 3 out of their four bags made it. Luckily John’s bag was delivered to the hotel at 2AM.
We had a quick nap and then met up with 4 of the couples that I had been corresponding with on the Cruise Critic Message Board. We went to a great place for tapas – Txapela. We each had about 4 or 5 tapas, sangria, beer and dessert tapas and it came to 10 Euros a piece. Earlier, I did find a pharmacy and she did not speak English and was very proud of my Spanish Tengo un tos. First picture is at Txapela. I think she understood me because I got great cough medicine and feel a lot better today.
This morning we found both Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts and walked along Las Ramblas people watching and enjoying the live statues (first two pictures). Warm sunny day and about to head over to the ship. Tomorrow is St. Tropez

Here in Heathrow

We arrived at Heathrow at 7:30AM London time (1:30AM CST). My plan of beating jet lag by getting up 1 hour earlier each day and going to bed an hour earlier did not work quite as well as I hoped. Did the “getting up earlier part” but never quite did the “get to bed earlier part”. Also ended up with a pretty bad upper respiratory infection and at 10:30AM on Friday thought there was no way I was going to be able to get on the plane. Luckily, my good friend Cookie showed up at my office with a bag full of decongestants and cold medicine and by flight time was feeling much better. With the help of Lunesta, I was able to get about 4-5 hours sleep, Jim, however, did not get a lot of sleep.
Heathrow is pretty crowded this morning and the American Airlines lounge in this terminal is outside of security. We have our laptop and there is Tmobile access so I thought I would take the opportunity to make our first post.
We leave for Barcelona at 11:30 and with another time change will get there at 2:30PM. We are meeting a group of people that I met on the Cruise Critic Message Board for Tapas tonight and sail out of Barcelona tomorrow at 6.

Anita – glad you had a good trip – your post worked! Made it easier for people to make posts this year.